With
the triumphant totality of Peter Jackson's
Lord of the
Rings now before us, Ralph Bakshi's noble but
fatally flawed version seems almost like an
afterthought.

It tells only half the story, ending in the midst of
The Two Towers and leaving the remainder for a
follow-up that never happened. Its pacing is
hopelessly rushed, cramming into two hours what
Jackson delivered in a little over six. It leaves a
number of key characters out, while glossing over
important figures in the most off-handed way possible.
And yet despite its vast problems, it retains a unique
vision: a way of looking at the story that bears
consideration, if not unmitigated applause.

Bakshi came along at a time when animation was
dominated by kiddie-friendly Disney fare. Cartoons had
no adult stories to tell, or so the conventional
wisdom went. Bakshi changed that with the likes of
Wizards and Fritz the Cat. Tolkien's epic
seemed like a perfect fit for him: animation could
render Middle Earth's fantasy vistas in a way no live
action movie at the time could even dream of, while
the ostensible fairy tale plot held more than its
share of serious grown-up themes. The best parts of
The Lord of the Rings stem from his singular approach
to world design and character creation.

Bakshi's
Middle Earth feels as real and plausible as Jackson's
, while the figures who inhabit it possess more
personality than countless cartoon animals. Bakshi
further distinguished his efforts by utilizing
uncommon animation techniques, such as rotoscoping and
shadow acting, to give his film a sense of
distinction. It works far better than it might have in
other hands, creating the same wonder and awe of
Jackson's film with just a tiny fraction of the
budget.

Despite that, the storyline simply lacks room to
breathe. Bakshi always struggled with narrative, and
his efforts to move as quickly as possible through the
proceedings result in a very jumbled tone. The basics
are unchanged: charged with destroying the One Ring of
Power, hobbit Frodo Baggins (voiced by Christopher
Guard) must journey into the evil land of Mordor. He
is initially accompanied by eight companions, but must
eventually leave them behind, save his gardener Sam
(voiced by Michael Scholes) who travels with him to
the end. The two receive the reluctant help of Gollum
(Peter Woodthorpe), a former slave of the ring now
consumed with possessing it himself.

While the fundaments stay clear, the rich detail of
the supporting incidents and characters are stripped
away by necessity. Pippin, Merry, Gimli and Legolas
appear almost as incidental bystanders, while pivotal
figures like Saruman and Theoden receive far less
attention than they deserve. So too does the film as a
whole feel arbitrary and isolated: individual
incidents rather than a unified whole. When faced with
a vision as complex as Tolkien's, such shortcuts
render much of the story a hash.

The Lord of the Rings actually works best in
direct comparison to Jackson's films, demonstrating
the way one can make different creative choices
without violating the overall spirit of the text.
Consider Bakshi's version of Aragorn (voiced by John
Hurt). Though just as rough and tumble as Viggo
Mortensen's rendition, he feels far kinder and gentler
here. He speaks in soothing tones to the hobbits under
his care; he laughs and jokes much more readily. And
yet he's still Aragorn: bold and kingly, with a
strength to see those beneath him through the storm.

Similar modest joys pepper
The Lord of the Rings from
beginning to end. They don't always add up to a
coherent whole, but they possess one-of-a-kind
pleasures augmented by the deep respect Bakshi clearly
holds for the original tale. The live action version
trumps it in every conceivable way; there simply is no
comparison. And yet Middle Earth is still better off
for its presence, providing a different way of looking
through the same mirror. As a movie it remains a
well-intentioned failure, but as a footnote (which, it
should be said, Tolkien was unspeakably fond of) it
becomes curiously indispensable.

THE DISC: Those in an angry
lather about the recent Blu-Ray release of the Jackson
films will be only mildly satiated by this one. The
transfer is decent, but retains a certain graininess,
and the flaws in the original animation are in full
force. The disc contains only one extra: an
interesting but largely mundane documentary about
Bakshi's work.

WORTH IT? Fans of the
live-action films should certainly consider it as an
alternative to the maligned live-action Blu-Rays,
enjoying the Bakshi film until the next time Warners
wants to foist the Jackson trilogy on us.

RECOMMENDATION: Animation
buffs, Tolkien fans and anyone interested in an
alternative to Peter Jackson should pick it up. More
casual fans can probably save their money.